Endangered orchids I feel bad.

[snowflake311]

I bought a Paphiopedilum micranthum from China a month ago. The plant is doing well. It has a new leaf roots look good. BUT I just now found that it is Critically Endangered.

I feel awful I did not know. If I end up killing this plant I will feel REALLY REALLY BAD. So far it is fine.

Have any of you made this mistake before?
Do any of you have an Endangered plant?

[Orchid Whisperer]

The assumption I would make is that if you had to pay for the usual import papers, etc., then maybe your plant was legitimately produced and nursery-grown. That will cost you some serious $$$. If this is a CITES I list plant, then your import was probably illegal, and possibly wild-collected, reducing the populations in the wild. Also, if the plant was acquired inexpensively, I would also assume it is illegal and wild-collected.

In the USA, there are vendors out there for most of the species orchids that can be grown by hobbyists. You can avoid the concerns over illegal purchases and possible illegal collection by purchasing from inside the USA.

As for your recent purchase, resolve to take really good care of it.

[My Green Pets]

Yep.

I bought a plant off eBay a couple years ago. Paphiopedilum gratrixianum. It arrived looking kind of ragged. I posted a pic on a slipper orchid forum and the members warned me that the seller I bought it from was known for selling smuggled, jungle-collected plants. Oops.
It was in stable condition until a couple of months ago when I severely over fertilized it. Now it looks very bad, all but two of its leaves have shriveled.

I will not buy from random vendors anymore. But he made his money and that's one less plant in the wild.

[Purpoh]

It completely stinks that people smuggle these orchids from the wild. To make you feel better, if you can flower your paphiopedilum, you can help with the conservation of this orchid. You could donate pollen to people trying to put it back in the wild. I'm not sure of organizations that would take the pollen but with a bit of research, you could help preserve this orchid!

[snowflake311]

Originally Posted by CambriaWhat

Yep.

I bought a plant off eBay a couple years ago. Paphiopedilum gratrixianum. It arrived looking kind of ragged. I posted a pic on a slipper orchid forum and the members warned me that the seller I bought it from was known for selling smuggled, jungle-collected plants. Oops.
It was in stable condition until a couple of months ago when I severely over fertilized it. Now it looks very bad, all but two of its leaves have shriveled.

I will not buy from random vendors anymore. But he made his money and that's one less plant in the wild.

I bet it was the same seller I bought from. I hope your plants hangs in there. The seller was meizi2003_cn1

---------- Post added at 08:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:52 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Purpoh

It completely stinks that people smuggle these orchids from the wild. To make you feel better, if you can flower your paphiopedilum, you can help with the conservation of this orchid. You could donate pollen to people trying to put it back in the wild. I'm not sure of organizations that would take the pollen but with a bit of research, you could help preserve this orchid!

I was thinking about that. I was trying to think of a way I could help. It would be a good plant to breed to since it is wild.

They are very slow growing but so far it is doing well. I did my research on how to care for it and grow it. I did not do research on if it was Endangered. Oh well I am not doing that again.

Thanks guys.

[AnonYMouse]

I don't know how complicated the process is but you should self it if you can (does that specie produce multiple blooms?). Send the pod to Meyers conservancy. Harvest the pollen, offer it to other micranthum owners to use. Even if you don't want a flask, it would be good to have the genetic material available.

[Leafmite]

You are not to blame: the seller is.

I like the Angraecums and many of those are close to becoming extinct in the wild. The same is true for many other orchids. If you feel bad, I agree, propagating it would be a very responsible thing to do. That is what many big orchid vendors have done. Long ago, when Cattleya corsages were very popular but people were still not very good at growing orchids, many times, the orchids would be pulled off of trees, shipped to the US, the flowers would be harvested and the rest of the orchid tossed. Some of the vendors, though, kept the orchids to bloom them the next year.

[snowflake311]

If I can get this plant to bloom I will try to do something to make more of them. If I can not get it to bloom I will give it to a more experienced grower that can.

I will start looking into Propagating now.

[Tindomul]

I did the same thing. I was dumb and bought the plant just assuming it was legal. I currently still have them alive, now I too will have to be responsible.

[disalover]

I try and base my collection on rare and endangered plants. So that means i killed at least 50 or so rare things!